Compared to Thursday, Penn State and Illinois must have thought that their Big Ten Tournament semifinal match had been moved south.  With temperatures in the low-50s and clear blue skies, the teams squared off for the first of two second round matches from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University.  Penn State was seeded number one with a record of 17-1-1 coming into the game and the fourth seed Illini enter the match at a mark of 13-4-2. 

The first 10 minutes of the match were played in the 79 yards between the boxes with each team exchanging opportunities, but few resulted in serious scoring chances.  All-Big Ten senior forward Illinois' Tara Hurless dominated the first 30 minutes with impressive runs and ball handling.  Her efforts resulted in eight shots for Illinois, including two on net.  Perhaps Illinois' best scoring opportunity came on a direct kick from 25 yards out on the right side of the field.  Senior midfielder Alaree Gunville hit a strike that surprised Nittany Lion goalkeeper Erin McLeod and swung out just enough to graze the outside of the far post.  After the miss, Penn State took control of the ball and pressed forward into the offensive end and a beautiful pass from freshman forward Aubrey Aden-Buie led to Big Ten Player of the Year Tiffany Weimer's 24th goal of the season.  With her semifinal goal, Weimer has scored in 13-straight games, two shy of the NCAA record of 15 by Santa Clara University's Brandi Chastain.  Weimer also has recorded a point in 19 of Penn State's 20 matches in 2004.  The goal in the 32nd minute marked Aden-Buie's second helper of the year.  With the score 1-0 in Penn State's favor, the Nittany Lions continued to move the ball into the Illini defensive end, resulting in another Weimer goal.  All-Conference selection Ali Krieger created enough distance between her and the defenders to deliver a pass to Weimer's left foot and after a complete turn, with her right, Weimer struck a ball that floated into the back of the net.  The goal was Weimer's 25th of her junior campaign and the assist gave Krieger three on the year.  With Weimer playing her usual role of star, Penn State went into intermission in control 2-0.

The defending tournament champion Illini came out fighting and turned to forwards freshman Ella Masar and first-team All-Big Ten selection senior Tara Hurless.  With an incredible burst of energy, Masar wrestled her way through three Penn State defenders far enough to be taken down inside the box.  The Lion penalty gave Illinois the tournament's first penalty kick.  Sophomore Sarah Brown took the kick for the Illini and rolled the ball along the right side of the box and snuck it just inside the far upright.  Brown's fourth goal of the year came in the fifth minute of the second half and cut the Nittany Lion lead in half and marked the first time since September 26th that a Penn State opponent had gotten on the scoreboard.  Hurless was not to be outdone by the underclassmen and in the 63rd minute cut through the PSU defense and received a perfectly-placed pass from junior Paula Faherty and arched a shot that landed just inside the goal line.  The score was Hurless' 10th of the year and the assist gave Faherty three in 2004.  Hurless' goal marked the first time the Nittany Lions had given up multiple goals since their season-opening 2-1 loss to Washington.  The Illini faithful came to their feet again less than a minute later as Hurless wound up and delivered a bullet of a shot from 36 yards out that was pushed over the crossbar by the out-stretched fingers of McLeod.  Suddenly Penn State was in the unfamiliar position of being on the defensive.  Subsequent turnovers in the midfield led to Illini rushes, but they could not be capitalized upon.  With less than 15 minutes remaining, Penn State took a corner kick from the far side that swung out to the penalty spot where it was headed right by sophomore Sarah Dwyer.  Weimer collected the ball and with her left foot rolled a shot towards net that was slid home by senior Stephanie Pezzullo.  For Pezzullo, it was her first goal of the year and Dwyer got her second assist of 2004 while Weimer her 11th.  Despite furious runs by Illinois, the nation's third-ranked team held on to advance to the finals of the Big Ten Tournament.  Tiffany Weimer, who had her foot in on all three of Penn State's goals was named one of 15 semifinalists for the national player of the year award, the MAC Hermann Trophy.  

Penn State's semifinal victory over No. 18 Illinois was their eighth over a top-25 team this year and moved the Lions into the tournament finals for the first time since 2001.  They will match up against either No. 2 Ohio State or No. 3 Michigan, who play in Friday's second semifinal match.